Grow and Care for Night Blooming Jasmine

Grow night-blooming jasmine in full sun or part shade, in moist soil that drains, and water it through the first season so the roots settle. Night-blooming jessamine is the same shrub. Cestrum is the Latin. This is not true jasmine.

Give it full sun or part shade, and moist soil that drains

night-blooming jasmine is a woody nightshade shrub, about 3 to 13 feet tall, with glossy leaves and clusters of small creamy tubes that open after dark. The day flowers look plain. The night scent is the garden job. Give it full sun or part shade, and keep the soil moist without standing water. Deep shade is the usual reason the night bloom stays thin. A soggy pocket around the roots is the usual cause of rot. [1]

1. Choose full sun, or part shade with afternoon shade where summers run very hot. Deep shade is the usual reason the tubes stay closed and the night scent never shows.
2. Set it in moist loam or sand that still drains. Compost in the bed is fine if water does not stand around the roots.
3. Water through the first growing season so the soil stays evenly moist. Let the surface dry slightly, then water again. Empty the saucer so the pot is not sitting in water.

Set a shrub in the ground after frost on Planting Night-Blooming Jasmine. Start another shrub from a summer stem on How to Propagate Night-Blooming Jasmine.

Grow it in a pot and bring it in before frost

Night-blooming jasmine also grows in a large pot on a patio. Use a container with a drainage hole, fill it with a potting mix that drains, and water freely while it is in growth. It is not winter hardy where frost hits, so bring the pot indoors before a freeze. Give it a bright window, keep the mix just moist while it rests, and expect the night scent to fill a small room. [2] [3]

1. Choose a large pot with a drainage hole. Empty the saucer after you water so the roots do not sit wet.
2. Fill it with a potting mix that drains. A loam-based mix is fine if water runs through instead of pooling. [4]
3. Set the pot in full sun or bright part shade outdoors. Water freely through summer. Afternoon shade helps if the leaves scorch in very hot weather.
4. Bring the pot indoors before frost. Give it a bright window. Keep the mix just moist while growth slows. Do not feed it until new growth starts in spring. The night scent can be strong indoors, so a spare room is better than a small bedroom.

Prune after bloom to keep it in bounds

This shrub grows fast, so a light prune after a bloom flush keeps it from turning into a lanky screen. You do not have to prune it for it to flower. If you need to cut it hard, do that in late winter before new growth starts, because flowers form on the new wood.

1. After a bloom flush, snip spent clusters and cut lanky stems back to a set of leaves if you want a denser shrub.
2. If you need to reduce height, wait until late winter, then cut the tallest stems before new growth starts. Do not shear it in midsummer if you want the next night flush.
3. After a freeze kills the top, wait for new growth, then cut the dead wood. Do not pull the plant because the top looks brown in late winter.

Not true jasmine — and not a night-blooming cactus

Night-blooming jasmine is Cestrum, a nightshade shrub whose small tubes open after dark. True jasmine is Jasminum, usually a twining vine or a different shrub — see How to Grow Jasmine. Star jasmine is Trachelospermum, a fragrant climber for a trellis — see How to Grow Star Jasmine. Cape jasmine is Gardenia — see How to Grow Gardenia.

Night-blooming cereus, also sold as queen of the night, is a cactus — see How to Grow Orchid Cactus and How to Grow Dragon Fruit. Lady of the night on an orchid tag is usually Brassavola — see How to Grow Brassavola. Carolina jessamine is Gelsemium. Orange jessamine is Murraya. If the tag is not Cestrum, you do not have this plant.

Set night-blooming jasmine in full sun or part shade, in moist soil that drains, and water it through the first season so the roots settle.